EHIC is a free card that gives you access to medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in any of the 27 EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, or the United Kingdom (GHIC) under the same conditions and at an equal cost as people insured in that country. In Germany, general doctor visits, special doctor visits, 90% cost of prescribed medications, surgeries, and hospital stay when necessary are all generally covered under public health insurance, so you can access those at no extra charge. EHIC is issued by your home insurance provider.
How does it work?
When visiting a hospital, you have to present your EHIC (in most countries it is on the back of your health insurance card), and you will also probably have to fill in another document called: "Patient Declaration European Health Insurance" because EHIC cannot be scanned by doctors. If a country has more public health insurers, you must choose one that will process and pay for the services the doctor provides. That provider will then issue the receipt to your home insurance fund, which ultimately pays for the health services you received.
Which services can I receive?
To explain this, we first need to talk a bit more about the reason for EHIC's existence.
We mentioned that free movement without limitations between EU countries needs to be allowed to its citizens.
Therefore we have to understand 2 terms:
Permanent/habitual country of residence
Temporary country of residence
A permanent or habitual country of residence is defined as the place where the center of interest lies. So first where your work is registered, your family, and the center of your activities. Insurance will always follow your permanent country of residence, and if you go to another EU country for a certain period, that will generally be your temporary residence as long as your work and family are still in your home country.
That is where EHIC comes into the picture: it will cover you in the temporary country of residence. Typical cases when you would use EHIC:
Vacation/visiting family in other EU states (generally limited to 3 months)
Job seeking in other EU states (generally limited to 6 months)
Studies in other EU states (coverage throughout the whole duration of studies, and even after while job seeking)
As mentioned, the general rule is 3 months of coverage, but in certain cases can also be extended. Students can stay on EHIC for the duration of their studies since studies are limited to a few years. If their family and friends are still in their home country, that is still considered their country of permanent residence, and therefore it stays in charge of their insurance. Similar applies to job seekers: their stay in a certain country depends on the success of their job search, therefore they stay insured in their home country.
So, which services can I receive?
Originally only emergencies were covered under EHIC, however since the new agreement was put in place in 2010, benefits were extended so that all services which cannot be postponed until after the intended return are now to be provided. So what you can claim through EHIC depends on the duration of your stay. Students, for example, generally stay for a minimum of 3 years in Germany, so their EHIC benefits should not be limited. If you are only on a short visit, you can expect quite limited coverage, since everything that is not urgent can wait for your return home.
Things to have in mind
The European Health Insurance Card:
is not an alternative to travel insurance. It does not cover any private healthcare or costs such as a return flight to your home country or lost/stolen property,
does not cover your costs if you are traveling for the express purpose of obtaining medical treatment (an S2 form is needed for this)
does not guarantee free services. As each country’s healthcare system is different, services that cost nothing at home might not be free in another country.
Nationals from non-EU countries cannot use their EHIC for medical treatment in Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland unless they are refugees residing in an EU member state or are covered as family members of an EU citizen.
If you do not have your EHIC with you at the moment, you can request a provisional replacement certificate (PEB) from your home provider, and that way prove your entitlement to health services.
Germany has social agreements with certain countries apart from the ones mentioned at the beginning of this article. Those are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, and Tunisia. If you are insured in one of those countries, you might enjoy similar benefits when presenting the relevant social security document.
You might have noticed that habitual country of residence is not strictly defined, and therefore EHIC can be misused in certain situations, or rather saying the right to keep your home insurance when temporarily moving to another country. That is why we always strongly advise you to first check with your home provider if they will cover you in the country you are traveling to, and also check the rules with social/health institutions in that country. That is not as important for travel under 3 months, but for longer stays.
Generally worth checking are also the standard forms for social security rights.